ENERGY MATTERS

[Stanley]

That sounds sensible Pluggy.....

[Tizer]

Thanks for all that Pluggy, it looks like Transport for London are not up to speed on how the grid works! I agree with you about hydrogen - this is an interesting article on that subject: LINK

[Stanley]

'Old Sparky' in this week's PE blows the lid off the recent hype for electricity generated by tidal lagoons. I trust his reports, they generally turn out to be accurate and he says that the costings and conditions demanded by the promoters make the electricity even more expensive than the 'bribe guarantees' made to make Hinkley point viable. Also, he says that the estimates of availability are nonsense. It all sounded so plausible didn't it but in effect Old Sparky reckons it is actually a Cunning Wheeze.

[Stanley]

News from Margaret in Perth that they are having solar panels installed today. If they work in Barlick she should be on a winner!

[Tizer]

I see they've been having extreme temperatures in Australia.

[Stanley]

I heard a university professor on R4 yesterday describing a new approach to off peak storage of renewable energy using baths of electrolyte made with common chemicals. In the course of the interview he said something that surprised me. He said that renewable energy from Germany was sent to pumped storage sites in Norway because they had the best mountains!

[Pluggy]

Its where Denmark's excess renewable energy winds up as well. Norway generate much of their electric from hydro which has the advantage of being easily controllable and yes its easily adopted to pumped storage if the terrain is right, but in practice they use it to feed their grid and turn their own hydro down. There are high capacity DC links laid across the Baltic and North Sea to facilitate the transfer of juice between grids.. Its highly controversial because of the spot price of electric that sometimes goes negative when there is a real glut of renewable energy in Europe. Norway, in effect is paid to take the electric which in turn they sell to their domestic market. The electricity is often very expensive where it is generated, so the Danish/Germans/whoever are subsidising(sometimes very heavily) Norway's electric.

Denmark are probably the worst offenders, they have a huge amount of wind power, but because they have a lot of legacy CHP power stations feeding domesttic heating systems and in the depths of their very cold winters has to be kept running , often when its windy they have far more electric than they can use because they can't turn off the CHP stations. The spot price of electric goes negative and Norway says yes I'll take your money and your electric. A Guardian article from last year : https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ity-demand . It doesn't mention the downsides......

Germany have a grid that is creaking at the seams (much like America's) and a huge amount of installed solar power. The solar panels are largely in residential areas and the industry that needs power is elsewhere. And their grid isn't up to moving it. An article on Germany's renewable problems : https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6015 ... enewables/

Big batteries are the future to store the stuff, many different technologies are being tested. Some indeed use everyday chemicals as their electrolyte. (Common salt solution is a good electrolyte)

[chinatyke]

I heard a university professor on R4 yesterday describing a new approach to off peak storage of renewable energy using baths of electrolyte made with common chemicals.

When I was driving through California in 2015 I passed an installation where sunlight is reflected off thousands of mirrors to 3 central towers. The heat is used to melt salt which is then used to raise steam and drive a generator. Very impressive. It also fries birds that pass through the heat beams!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_S ... r_Facility

[Stanley]

Margaret reports that her inverter is fitted and running and the meter is running backwards. The Leccy board will fit a digital meter when they get round to it....

[Stanley]

We had a two hour power outage last night so Jack and I practised with candles and a Vapalux lamp ready for the real power cuts!

[Tizer]

`Carbon Brief analysis shows the UK’s CO2 emissions fell by 5.8% in 2016, after a record 52% drop in coal use'
"The reduction would leave UK CO2 emissions some 36% below 1990 levels. The huge fall in CO2 from coal use in 2016 was partially offset by increased emissions from oil (up 1.6%) and gas (up 12.5%). The most dramatic change in 2016 came from coal emissions, which fell by 50% compared to a year earlier to around 37 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2). A decade earlier, in 2006, UK coal emissions stood at 137MtCO2. These CO2 cuts are down to falling demand for coal. Coal use had already reached record lows in 2014 and then again in 2015. Last year set another record low, with demand halving to 18 million tonnes (Mt). The 52% drop was the largest recorded in percentage terms. It outstrips even years with miners’ strikes (1921,1926 and 1984), when coal use fell by around 30% before rebounding a year later...."
CarbonBrief.org

[Tripps]

We're saved.......

[Whyperion]

Ebico have swapped supplier for Gas/Electric from SSE to Robin Hood Energy(Owned/Part Owned by Nottingham City Council).
Ebico is useful as it has zero standing charge, and for various reasons mum has gas meter but no gas use(mostly the pipes are corroded internally and it is not worth the capital cost to renew fire, cooker or boiler). They also use the same rate for pre-pay (but is 1% cheaper if one settles by direct debit) and quarterly/monthly billing) . I note Ebico have now added addtional tariff with a 25p per day standing charge per fuel, which makes comparing tariffs a little more complex for low users, and for Electric via Robin Hood. it is one of the suppliers that doesn't have the low income (Warm Home Discoun) discount that the majors have to offer to qualifing individiuals or families.
So for BB12 Credit Tariffs are
Electricity: 16.42p per kWh
Gas: 4.91p per kWh

Pre-Pay +25 per day (£91.50per annum per fuel)
Electricity: 14.05p per kWh
Gas: 3.934p per kWh
No doubt one can use spreadsheet programs to work out what is best for ones on own usage

[Stanley]

And I haven't used my stove this winter yet.....

[Tripps]

Until now I've been with Stanley in the 'can't be mithered ' camp. I just pay what they charge by bank transfer, as and when the quarterly bills arrive. - however I saw a mention in Iain Dale's blog that he had changed to a company called Octopus Energy. I have a lot of time for Iain and looked into it . I was disappointed to see a new advert for Octopus during Sky News within a couple of days, which immediately aroused suspicions that his recommendation was part of a campaign, and paid for. Still - that in itself does not make it a bad thing.

I've done the back of an envelope sums, and it looks like I'll save about £300 per year on gas and electric combined. All their quoted rates for fuel and daily standing charges are less than I'm paying now by some margin - I just might do it.

Any thoughts?

[Big Kev]

I can't get my mother to pay for things by direct debit or debit card. She lost several hundred pounds when a local travel company went bust, she'd paid using cash. She pays just under £90 quarterly to BT for a land line only, trying to explain to her that I pay around £30 a quarter less for the same phone package and an unlimited broadband service is met with "I don't want the internet"

She won't buy anything from Argos because "you don't know what you're getting until you open the box" and she wouldn't let me order her a replacement fridge freezer on t'internet, saving her around 100, because she wanted to see it first...

I've given up.

[Tizer]

At least she should get £5 a month off...
`BT landline-only customers set to get £5 off monthly bills' 28 February 2017 LINK
"BT customers, who pay £18.99 per month for a landline-only contract, would pay no more than £13.99."

[Big Kev]

At least she should get £5 a month off...
`BT landline-only customers set to get £5 off monthly bills' 28 February 2017 LINK
"BT customers, who pay £18.99 per month for a landline-only contract, would pay no more than £13.99."

I told her that too, hopefully the reduction will be automatic.

[Stanley]

She probably lives a perfectly happy well-ordered life, within her means..... Good luck to her.
David. Don't weaken! Ask yourself how someone can sell you energy for £300 less. Octupus are swamping us with adverts at the moment. They don't come cheap.....

[Tripps]

"Ask yourself how someone can sell you energy for £300 less."

I have done so, and concluded that perhaps it's because I've been too idle to switch, and I'm being robbed. I am attracted to this scheme because there is no middle man. I've read that price comparison websites get £60 - £80 per switcher, and I'd hate to support any company which inflicts such awful TV ads upon us. I wouldn't want to pay for the 'strutters'.

[Tizer]

Ask yourself how someone can sell you energy for £300 less...

Because someone's selling you energy for £300 too much!

[Stanley]

I think I am, once more, in a minority! I have to admit there is logic in what you say. I shall wait and see.....

[Big Kev]

I find myself checking various insurance prices around a month before they're due for renewal. All previous renewal quotes have always been much higher, even within the same company. A lot of these are 'auto renew' as well and rely on people not bothering to check. I do use comparison sites to find a decent quote and then compare it with those that aren't on the comparison sites, I'm with Aviva for my car insurance this year as they were the best, and cheapest option. Buildings and contents are still with Hastings Direct at the moment but will be up for renewal in a couple of months, I may get a new meerkat toy, I may not

[Big Kev]

I'd hate to support any company which inflicts such awful TV ads upon us. I wouldn't want to pay for the 'strutters'.

It is an awful ad but, in being so, it works. People certainly remember what it's advertising.

[Tizer]

Always tell companies you don't want auto-renewal and make sure don't accidentally tick a box for it. Otherwise they take you for a non-switcher and will very definitely bump up your price next time around. Auto-renewal is a very useful indicator for them!